New Super Smash Bros. brings changes to edge-guarding

The new Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS won't only introduce some new playable character, but some pretty interesting changes to gameplay techniques as well. The most major of the changes seems to revolve around edge-guarding, a technique in which you hold onto a ledge in order to prevent a player who has been knocked off the stage from recovering and climbing back on.

In a post on Miiverse, Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai shared a new screenshot teasing how edge-guarding would be tweaked, while also detailing a few other gameplay changes.

"There are many changes being made to attack and defense options for grabbing edges. In this picture (note: above), Link is actually trumping Mario's grab," explained Sakurai. In a follow-up post, Sakurai made note of these other changes:

Air time and accumulated damage will determine your period of invincibility while hanging on an edge.

Grab controls will no longer be affected by whether you have above or below 100% damage.

I've never relied on edge-guarding while playing Smash Bros. -- personally, I'm not good enough at the game for such advanced techniques. So really, the change doesn't affect me. It will be interesting, however, to see how these changes affect some of the more advanced players.

For you hardcore Super Smash fans, are you excited for the changes to edge-guarding?

Matt Liebl
You can follow Senior News Editor Matt Liebl on Twitter @Matt_GZ. He likes games, sports, musicals, and his adorable dog, Wrigley, and his wife.